The Moments of Happiness
by Misto4Ever
Summary: Mungojerrie has always wished to have someone to love. Could his new friendship with the pretty white queen make his wish come true?
1. Prolouge Destiny

Prolouge - Destiny

Victoria was in her own little world, dancing in the middle of the junkyard by moonlight. As she spun gracefully around, she felt someone's peircing gaze from the shadows. She stopped and looked curiously towards the pipe to see a pair of brown eyes staring back at her.

Victoria smiled. It was the magician, and her soon-to-be-mate, Mistoffelees. He blushed when she caught him staring, but walked over to the beautiful white queen with a smile on his face. "Sorry I disturbed you. But you were just so beautiful and graceful, I couldn't help but stare." Misto said sweetly. She couldn't believe how lucky she was to almost be mates with this amazing tuxedo tom.

"You didn't disturb me, I can dance anytime. Right now I'd rather be with you." She gave him a pretty smile before walking up to him and giving him a quick kiss. She then held herself against him in a tight hug, enjoying the softness of his black fur. As they let go, Misto layed down on the ground patting the ground beside him. She layed down, cuddling close to him as they looked up at the starry night sky. Victoria sighed, content.

Misto glanced at her. "Why are you sighing?"

She smiled at him. "Oh nothing... just that you're the best tom a queen could ever wish for."

It was his turn to smile. "Well I have a little present for the most amazing queen." He shifted over a bit, pointing toward the stars with one paw, gesturing for Victoria to follow his gaze. She looked up at the stars and watched as they rearranged themselves to spell:

_"Misto + Vicki_

_Now and Forever"_

Victoria looked at Mistoffelees, who had gotten up and held a hand out to help her up. She took his paw, he gently pulled her up off the ground, and then gently turned her around so that she was facing away from him. She stood there, silently waiting, when suddenly there was a flash of electric blue light from behind her. Though she was curious, she did not turn around, not wanting to ruin the surprise. Then she felt Misto's paws reach around her neck and attach something to the front of her collar.

Not able to stand the suspense any longer, she spun around to face him. Misto was grinning and holding a mirror so she could see what it was. It was a small silver charm in the shape of an 'M' that dangled from her collar. "'M' as in Misto?" she asked.

"Well...yeah. Now that charm will remind you of me whenever I'm not there. It's my promise to be with you forever." Mistoffelees explained seriously. With a touch of his paw, the mirror disappeared and Victoria folded herself into his arms.

Sitting quietly watching the scene from the other end of the junkyard was the calico tom, Mungojerrie. He smiled at the sincerity in both cats eyes and saw how much they really loved each other. Vaguely he wondered if he would ever find that kind of love. The only cat in the tribe that he was really close to was his sister, and partner in crime, Rumpleteazer. He hoped that one day he would find that queen that was destined to be his mate, like it seemed Mistoffelees and Victoria had found each other. But Jerrie could only wait for his touch of destiny to come.


	2. Chapter 1 Rumpleteazer's Confession

Chapter One- Rumpleteazer's Confession

Mungojerrie awoke to the sound of his twin sister bouncing up and down on the end of his bed. "Jerrie! Get up! Mum made breakfast and sent me to come wake you up! C'mon!"

Jerrie got up out of bed, rubbing sleep from his eyes, stumbling a bit as he stood up. "Come on!" Teazer said, slightly frustrated by his slowness. She grabbed his paw and dragged him out into the kitchen, as he tried to shake off his sleepiness.

Teazer let go as soon as they were in the kitchen and sat down in a chair next to their mother, Jennyanydots. On the otherside of Jenny was their father, Skimbleshanks, and on the other side of Teazer sat Jemima. Jemima had been abandoned on the railway when she was a tiny kit and Skimble had rescued her and brought her to live in the Jellicle tribe. She was basically Jerrie and Teazer's little sister, though they were not blood related.

He walked over to sit in the empty seat next to his father. Teazer was eating, or more like inhaling, her breakfast at an alarming rate, while Jenny watched her in amusement. Feeling a bit more awake, Jerrie began to eat his food, just as Teazer finished hers and began talking to the table in general. Once he had finished, he listened to Teazer's babbling with a bit more interest.

"So its a really nice day today and I was thinking me and Jerrie could go a little outside the junkyard so as not to disturb the kittens." she said swiftly while giving Jerrie a meaningful look. Now he understood why she was so excited, she wanted to go stealing.

"Well you guys can do whatever you want, you're old enought to look after yourselves. Just stay out of trouble and be home by nightfall." Jenny said giving Teazer a stern look. But the calico queen only jumped up, ignoring the look, hugged Jenny quickly, and bounded over to grab Jerrie's hand, dragging him outside as they both called goodbyes over their shoulders.

"Jeez Teazer what's gotten into you?" Jerrie asked as she pulled him a little way aways from the house.

"Well I found a new place to go theiving...and I need to tell you something." Jerrie cocked an eyebrow and waited for her to continue. "Well.." she hesitated, "You know how we promised to tell each other everything when we were little?" He nodded, wondering where this was going.

"Uhmm well lately I've kinda been...crushing on someone..." she trailed off. Jerrie resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Just a few weeks ago Teazer had told him of her crush on Plato, and even before that she had crushed on Alonzo. Plus most of the young queens always had a small crush on Tugger.

"Well who is it?" he asked, trying to sound remotely interested.

"Uhmmm....you're probably gonna freak out or somethin'...its Mistoffelees."

"What?" He somewhat shouted, caught by surprise. She liked Mistoffelees? Oh great. Now he had to find a way to let her down gently, to tell her so she'd understand that Misto wouldn't be interested,without being mean. He was sure that after what he had seen between Misto and Victoria last night, that there was no chance for his sister to try to win him.

"Well yeah...He's really cute..and he can do magic..." she grinned, her eyes far away, unfocused.

"Uh Teazer...you know how...serious Misto is with Victoria."

"He's not that serious. I mean yeah they're dating, and people say stuff about them being the 'perfect couple' but I'm sure Misto can change his mind." she answered confidently.

"Teazer..." he half groaned. This wasn't going to be easy.

"So...are you gonna help me get to know him or not?" she asked, with a pouty look on her face.

"Ugh fine Teazer, you can go ahead and try, but I wouldn't get your hopes up."

She squealed and gave Jerrie a quick excited hug. " Thanks Jerrie, you're the best brother ever! By the way, why don't we go get our sacks and check out this new house I found?" Grinning mischeviously, they ran to their secret hiding place behind the house and grabbed their sacks.

They found a great deal of interesting items at the house so it was an overall successful raid. His sister went to go talk to one of her friends back at the junkyard. He found his mother and Jemima outside at the house, Jenny relaxing and Jemima chasing a butterfly through the yard. Because she wasn't paying attention, she ran right into Jerrie as he walked into the yard. He laughed and held out a paw to help her up and she was giggling too.

"Sorry Jerrie, I didn't see you."

"It's ok Jemmie." He then made his way into the house, finding his father in the living room. He was somewhat surprised to see the silver tabby, Munkustrap sitting in the roomn as well, having a conversation with Skimble.

"Well Tugger says Misto's really serious about Victoria, she's even growing out of her interest in Tugger himself. But Victoria is basically my daughter and I don't want her rushing into things too fast..." Munkustrap broke off when he noticed Jerrie in the room. Skimble turned to see why Munkustrap had stopped talking, and then smiled at his son.

"Ah Jerrie, what are you doing home so early? Where's Teazer?" he asked.

"She went to talk to some of her friends in the junkyard. I came home cuz I was practically dragged out of here this morning."

He laughed. "Yeah that's true. Teazer was very excitable today." Skimble gestured for Jerrie to come sit down next to him. He did so, turning to face Munkustrap who gave him a smile.

"Hello Mungojerrie, how are you?"

"Uh I'm good Munkustrap."

"That's nice to hear." It was obvious that he and Jerrie didn't know each other very well, although he was one of his father's best friends. The silver tabby then continued the conversation from before. "As I was saying, I'm just worried that Victoria might do something she might regret if they don't stop to think about what they're doing."

"Well if I remember correctly Munkus, you and Demeter 'rushed into things' after you saved her from Macavity." Skimble teased his old friend.

He blushed a little, but quickly recovered,"That's completely beside the point... she was in danger...anyways Victoria is not in danger like Demeter was but Misto still wants to rush things..."

"Well maybe, in a way, Victoria is in danger. Have you seen the way most of the toms look at her? Maybe Misto is afraid that if he waits too long, another tom will catch her heart." Skimble grinned. Munkustrap was at a loss for words after that.

"Well I must get going... I left Alonzo in charge of the kittens and you know how much of a flirt he is..." he stood up.

"You know as well as I do that he doesn't flirt as much now that he has Cassandra. But you go ahead and protect Victoria, just don't be too unfair with her." Skimble winked at a sheepish looking Munkustrap, who then waved goodbye before walking out the door. Just then Jenny walked inside, Jemima right behind her.

"Jerrie would you please go get Teazer? Dinner's almost done."

"Sure mum." Jerrie bounded towards the junkyard, thinking about the conversation he had just heard. His father was right, Victoria was too pretty for her own good. Shaking these thoughts from his head, he walked into the main part of the junkyard, looking around for his sister.

He found her over in the shadows by Alonzo, and they were both obviously flirting. Jerrie rolled his eyes and wondered vaguely where Cassandra was, before padding over to them. They both looked up as he came over.

"Jerrie! What are you doing here?" She asked while both her and Alonzo blushed.

"Mum told me to come get you. Dinner's done." Jerrie noticed Alonzo wouldn't look him in the eyes. "Hey Alonzo, where's Cass?" he asked in mock curiosity.

"She's at home." he answered, looking guilty now.

"Ah well you better be getting back to her. C'mon Teazer." he grabbed her arm, but she gave Alonzo a flirty smile and waved, while he only gave her a half-hearted smile in return.

When Alonzo was out of sight, Jerrie turned to his sister. "What was that about? I thought you liked Misto?"

"I'm sorry Jerrie. I do like Misto, but when I came looking for Electra I saw Alonzo and we started flirting...I couldn't help myself. You know how much I liked him and then he had to go do the mating dance with Cassandra..." Teazer answered looking a little guilty now. They walked into the house to see that Jenny already had dinner on the table ready for them. They quickly ate before heading off to bed.

As Jerrie was laying down Teazer walked over to him and whispered so Jemima couldn't hear, "I promise we'll start my plan to talk to Misto tomorrow. I'll be fun!" She then told him good night and went back to her own bed. Mungojerrie couldn't help but roll his eyes this time and as he

rolled over to face the wall, he wondered what Teazer's definition of 'fun' was.


	3. Chapter 2 The Plan Set In Action

Chapter Two- The Plan Set In Action

The next morning, Jerrie got up before everyone else, so he decided to go outside to get some peace and quiet before his sister woke up. He quietly made his way through the house and out the front door without waking anyone up. Sitting down on the ground, leaning against a tree, he enjoyed the quiet while he could.

He was worried about Teazer's 'plan' to get to know Misto. He could almost guarantee that she had no chance, and he didn't want to see his sister hurt. She had been pretty upset when Alonzo had done the mating dance with Cassandra, and apperantly they still had feelings for each other, he had seen that for himself yesterday.

It seemed as if Jerrie was the only one in the family who had yet to really like someone. Even Jemima was going with Pouncival, and she was much younger than him. Sometimes having his sister and Jemima as his only close friends kinda bothered him, but most of the time he was ok with it. But it had never bothered him as much as it did now.

Having lost himself in his thoughts, he did not hear Jemima walk outside. She quietly came over and sat down beside him. "Jerrie? Why are you out her all by yourself? Is something wrong?"

Jerrie looked at her and smiled. "Nothing's wrong Jemmie...I just needed peace and quiet to think."

"Think about what?" she asked curiously.

"Just.....life in general really."

"Well if you need someone to talk to...I'm here." she said still looking slightly concerned. Jerrie nodded at her offer. Jemima always had a way to make him feel better. Grinning to himself, he and Jem walked back into the house to find the rest of the famliy in the kitchen. Jenny was making breakfast with Skimble's help and Teazer was waiting patiently at the table for her food. Jerrie let out a quiet groan when he remembered that today was the day that they would set Teazer's plan in action.

Skimbleshanks looked up as they walked in and smiled back at his father and then sat down at the table diagonal from Teazer, while Jemima walked over and gave Skimble a quick hug before sitting down next to Jerrie at the table. Finally, Jenny put their breakfast onto the table and they all ate quietly, quite unlike yesterday. Jerrie noticed that Teazer seemed to be more herself today, not jumping up and down like before, and he took that as a good sign.

"So, kids what to you plan on doing today?" Skimble asked, trying to make a conversation.

"Not much dad, just gonna go to the junkyard with Jemmie and Jerrie and hang out." Teazer answered, and then turned to smile at her brother.

"Sounds like fun. Just be back by dark." Jenny said while picking up the dishes and putting them in the got up and walked outside, Jerrie and Jemima right behind her.

"So Jerrie you gonna hang out with us at the junkyard?" Jemima asked.

"Uhhh actually I think I'll go find Pounce and Tumble and talk to them."

"Well I'm gonna find Pouncie first and then go play with Cetti and 'Leccy."

When they got to the junkyard, ran ahead to meet Pouncival, while Teazer pulled Jerrie off to the side. "Alright here's the plan. While Victoria is playing with the other kittens, I'm gonna go talk to Misto. So keep an eye on her ok? Oh and warn me if she's coming." she explained quietly. Jerrie nodded. She smiled and then ran over to talk to Electra while waiting for any sign of Victoria or Mistoffelees.

A few minutes later, Victoria appeared from Munkustrap and Demeter's den and walked gracefully over to meet Misto, who was in his pipe. She gave him a quick kiss and then headed over to play with the kittens. Teazer saw her chance and slinked over to Misto's pipe to talk to him.

Meanwhile, Jerrie walked over to Pouncival and Tumblebrutus, while still keeping an eye on Victoria.

"Hey Jerrie what's up? Don't often see you in the junkyard." Pounce said with a grin as he walked up to the calico tom.

"Yeah I know but my sister wanted to talk to her friends and my mum suggested I go with her, so I'm here." He had occasionally talked to Pounce and Tumble whenever he acually did come to the junkyard, so he guessed he could call him his friends. Just then Tumble walked over and greeted him as well.

He had a pretty easy conversation with the two of them, occasionally glancing over at the kittens to make sure Victoria was still there. Unfortunatly, Pounce noticed his glancing.

"Hey Jerrie, who do you keep looking at?"

"What?" he asked, embaressed. Had he really been that obvious?

"You keep looking at the queens, which one you got your eye on?" Pounce asked curiously.

"Uh... its not like I have a crush on any of them its just...."

"Hey its Victoria isn't it? Yeah she's a really pretty queen, too bad Misto's claimed her." Tumblebrutus said with a sigh.

"Yeah she is really pretty isn't she?" Jerrie said, looking over at her. So his father was right, most of the toms did drool over the white queen.

"Yep, Misto's so lucky." Pounce added.

While the two young toms were staring at the kittens, Jerrie risked a glance over at Teazer and Misto. The magician had come out of his pipe and was talking to the calico queen. Even from here, Jerrie could see that Teazer was flirting, but she wasn't making it obvious so Misto wouldn't notice. Glad his sister's plan was going well, he turned to look back at Pounce and Tumble who were apperantly talking about the young queens.

"You have to admit, besides Victoria Jemima's the prettiest queen. I'm so lucky to have her." Pounce was saying.

"I dunno...I honestly think Electra's very pretty actually. And she's really sweet too." Tumble said matter-of-factly.

"Awww you like 'Leccy don't you Tumble?" Pouncival teased. Tumble blushed a deep red and didn't answer. Jerrie grinned. So even the youngest toms had crushes. What was wrong with him? Was he incapable of liking someone?

Suddenly he was pulled out of his thoughts by the sound of the siamese queen, Cassandra's angry voice approaching them. He turned to see her stalking towards him, a furious look on her face.

"Mungojerrie! I need to have a word with you!"

"Uh ok Cass what's up?"

"You need to tell your flirting sister to stay away from my Alonzo!"

"Uh ok Cassandra I'll do that. Though I'm sure Teazer didn't mean any harm."

"Good! And if I catch her flirting with him one more time...."

"I got it Cass, I'll keep her away from him."

Cassandra nodded and then stormed off, back towards her den. "Whoa your sister's really got the beauty queen angry." Pounce said with a laugh.

"Yeah, its nice to see who's in control of that relationship." Tumble laughed.

Just then, his sister walked up beside them and happily asked, "What are you laughing at boys?"

Jerrie turned to her and said, "I'm supposed to warn you that if you ever flirt with Alonzo again, you'll have to deal with Cass's temper."

"Oh well, she'll calm down soon enough." Teazer answered. "Anyway Jerrie I think we better get going, its almost dark."

Mungojerrie looked up to see the sun setting. Wow the day had gone really fast just talking to Pounce and Tumble. "Yeha I guess so, see you guys later!" he called to the toms and they waved goodbye. Rumpleteazer quickly went to get Jemima and then they all walked home as the sun fell below the horizon.

As they walked in the house, Skimble was in the living room relaxing, while Jenny was putting dinner on the table. Jemima and Teazer went to go help their mother, while Jerrie sat down next to his father.

"So Jerrie how was your day?"

"Ok I guess. I talked to Pounce and Tumble most of the day."

"Sounds like fun." Jenny then called them into the kitchen to eat. Once they were finished with Jenny's amazing dinner, Jemima decided to help her clean up so teazer dragged her brother into the bedroom and shut the door.

"So how did flirting with the magician go?"

"Oh it was amazing Jerrie! You won't believe how nice he is. Not to mention so cute! I was just talking to him almost the whole day, and then Victoria came over just as the sun started to set and I told him bye and that I'd see him tomorrow."

"Sounds cool. So I guess you want me to keep and eye on Victoria again tomorrow?"

"Could you please Jerrie?"

"I guess so. I had fun talking to Pounce and Tumble today anyways."he smiled and Teazer hugged him.

Jemima opened the door and looked curiously from Mungojerie to Rumpleteazer. "What's up with you two?"

"Nothing Jemmie, I just had a lot of fun at the junkyard today." Teazer answered. Jemima nodded slowely and went over to her bed, but Jerrie knew she didn't believe Teazer. As Jerrie was climbing into his bed, his sister winked at him.

Jerrie didn't feel tired yet so he got up and walked over to Jemima, kissed her on the cheek and walked out of the room to go sit outside. It was still warm and the sky was full of shining stars. He walked over to the same tree he had sat at this morning and stared up at the stars in wonder.

Having talked to Pouncival and Tumblebrutus today about queens had got him thinking again. These toms were younger than him, and they were having conversations about pretty queens, something he had never really done. He was once again wishing he could just finally find that queen that he loved and who loved him in return. He hoped that this queen would come along soon.


	4. Chapter 3 Caught In the Act

Chapter Three- Caught In the Act

The next few days went pretty much the same as the first day of his sister's plan. Rumpleteazer would go talk to Mistoffelees, occassionally flirting, while Mungojerrie would talk to Pounce and Tumble and keep an eye on Victoria. He was getting better at hiding his glances towards the kittens but he still had to endure the toms daily arguements over the prettiest queens.

But today was different. When they got to the junkyard there was no sign of Victoria or Mistoffelees. They waited a while but when the sun was high in the sky Teazer started to get anxious. "Jerrie where are they? Misto promised he'd talk to me again today!"

He was a bit puzzled as well. He had gotten used to watching Victoria the last couple of days and it was odd not having her or the magician around.. " Teazer....I dunno where they are...don't worry so much, its not that surprising, they are dating after all."

She scowled a bit and then suddenly her face brightened. "How about we search the junkyard for them? They've got to be here somewhere."

"Uhmm...." he hesitated. She was staring at him with that pleading look on her face. "Ok." he gave in. He was worried though, because there was the possibility that they might find them and their signs of affection might hurt his sister.

Grudgingly he set off for the outskirts of the junkyard, following his sister. After only a few minutes, they caught sight of Mistoffelees heading back towards the junkyard, but there was no sign of Victoria. The calico twins hid behind a junkpile, but as soon as she realized Victoria wasn't around, Teazer jumped out from behind the pile and casually walked over to Misto, who smiled at her in surprise. As they walked back to the main part of the junkyard together, Jerrie wondered what on earth he was gonna do now.

Deciding he didn't want to endure Pounce and Tumble's talk of queens, he began to wander alone in the outskirts. His mind started to drift back to the depressing thoughts of love, when he saw a flash of white fur between piles of junk a few feet ahead of him. Curious, he crept foreward to find himself at the edge of a clearing to see Victoria gracefully dancing, seeming as if she was in a whole other world. Jerrie settled himself in the shadows to watch the beautiful queen.

He lost track of time while he sat there, and he didn't notice how late it was until the sun started to set. Finally Victoria seemed to realize the time as well and her graceful dancing came to a close. With a start, Jerrie realized she was walking toward his hiding place, a little too late.

"Hello?" Victoria called, noticing something moving in the shadows. Cursing himself for being so careless, Jerrie stepped out into the clearing to face the white queen, his face turning red with embaressment.

"Mungojerrie?" she said, looking slightly surprised.

"H-hi Victoria...sorry...I didn't mean to...." he stuttered.

But she did not seem angry, just genuinly surprised to see the calico tom. "It's all right, its not like I haven't caught toms staring at me before." she said with a smile. Jerrie knew that was true, he remembered Tumble bragging about the time he had watched Victoria dance.

Jerrie blushed again, while Victoria only smiled at him, waiting for him to reply. "Well....I guess I'll just go..." he mumbled and started to walk away.

"Hey, why are you so embaressed? Its not like you haven't seen me dance at the Jellicle Ball before." she gently put her hand on Jerrie's arm to stop him from leaving, and he felt a tingle go up his spine at her gentle touch.

"Yeah I've seen you dance before...but this was different....you seemed at peace....like you didn't have a care in the world..." he replied, his embaressment ebbing away.

"Yeah that seems to happen a lot... when I'm dancing I don't think about anything else." she replied with a laugh. He liked the sound of her laugh, it was like the chiming of a bell.

"Yeah....well its getting dark, I better go find my sisters so we can head home."

Victoria glanced up to see that the sun had dissappeared behind a large junkpile, it was almost completely dark now. "Yeah Munkustrap will wonder where I am, being the overprotective father that he is."

They walked back to the main part of the junkyard together and since it was now very dark, he walked Victoria to the entrance of her den, before heading home himself, wondering where Teazer and Jemima were.

As he walked into the house, he was greeted by Skimble's relieved voice. 'Ah Jerrie there you are! We were getting worried, Jem and Teazer said they couldn't find you so they headed home themselves."

"Sorry dad, I was wondering around and I lost track of the time."

"Well all that matters now is that you're home and safe. Dinner's on the table for you." Jenny patted her son's shoulder and he sat down and ate his dinner quickly before heading off to his bedroom, knowing very well that Teazer would want to know exactly where he'd been all day.

Sure enough, as soon as he walked through the doorway, Teazer ran up and started asking a billion questions, while Jemima stood behind her looking curious.

" Jerrie where were you? Me and Jemmie went looking for you, but you weren't in the main junkyard, and it was too dark to look anywhere else..." she stopped talking, looking expectantly at her brother for an answer.

Jerrie decided to stick to the story he had told their parents. "I was just wondering around in the outskirts all day and I lost track of time."

He hated lying to Teazer but Jemima didn't know about Teazer and Misto and he didn't really want her to know about him and Victoria either. He wasn't even sure if he wanted to tell Teazer about Victoria.

"Well you must have wondered pretty far from the main junkyard, cuz we looked for a while, calling your name."

"Yeah I guess it was pretty far away, it took me a while to get home."

Rumpleteazer seemed to accept his story, but he could see that Jemima knew he was hiding something. To his relief they didn't question him anymore. As he layed down on his bed, Jerrie let out and audible sigh. That night he dreamed of the beautiful white queen dancing alone in the clearing.

The next morning Jerrie awoke later than usual, and was surprised to see the sun already very high in the sky. It was late morning, and he wondered why Teazer had not woken him up like usual. Confused, he got out of bed and walked into the kitchen to find no one in the house. Heading outside he saw Jenny working on the garden, humming to herself.

"Mum? Where is everyone? Why didn't Teazer wake me up?"

"Well your father has to leave for the railway later on today, so he went to go say goodbye to Munkustrap and the others as well. Teazer and Jemima went with him and I told them to let you sleep in for a change."

"Dad's leaving? For how long?" his father often left to go spend time on the railway, but it had been a while since the last time he had gone.

"He'll be gone for a while so if you want to say goodbye you better go find him."

"Ok, I'll go look for him." he answered, and ran toward the main part of the junkyard in search of his father.

The first cat he ran into was Jemima, who seemed pleased to see Jerrie awake. "Jerrie! You're finally awake!" she giggled. He couldn't help but smile at her, but he was determined to find Skimble before he left.

"Yep. Hey Jemmie have you seen dad?"

"Yeah he's in Munukustrap's den saying goodbye."

"Thanks Jem!" he replied and set off to the den he had walked Victoria to the previous night. He politely knocked on the door. Demeter answered it and let him inside.

Skimbleshanks was sitting on the couch talking to the silver tabby, and he smiled at his son as he walked in. Jerrie sat down next to him. "Hey dad. Mum told me you were leaving and I didn't get the chance to say goodbye because nobody woke me up."

"Awww Jerrie, I'm sorry I left so early. But you now I wouldn't leave without saying goodbye to you." Skimble looked at his son and held his arms out for a hug, seeing that Jerrie was a little upset about him leaving. He accepted the embrace holding on a bit longer than was neccessary perhaps. They broke apart, both smiling, and then his father turned to continue talking to Munkustrap. Jerrie glanced curiously around the room. He noticed Demeter's gaze on him and as he looked at her, she smiled.

Just then, Victoria came in from another room, yawning, having obviously just woken up. "Ah Victoria, its about time you woke up." Munkustrap laughed. She smiled, and looked to see Skimbleshanks sitting next to him.

"Hello Skimble, off to spend some time on the railway?"

"Yes Victoria. I'm going to be gone for a while so I came to say goodbye to your father."

She nodded, then her eyes found Mungojerrie sitting on the chair next to the orange tabby and she smiled in surprise. "Mungojerrie?"

"Hi Victoria." he answered, ignoring the surprised looks coming from Munkustrap, Demeter, and his father.

Demter recovered first, breaking the silence. "Oh and thank you for walking Victoria home last night Jerrie."

"You're welcome Demeter." he answered and saw the curious expression on Skimble's face out of the corner of his eye.

"Demeter, you didn't tell me Jerrie walked Victoria home last night." Munkustrap said in surprise.

"Well you were asleep and I saw no reason to wake you."

Skimbleshanks was still looking curiously from his son to the white queen, but then decided it was time to get going. "Well Munkus I must be going now. I'll see you soon hopefully." he announced, embracing his old friend and then heading out the door. Jerrie lingered for a moment, smiling and waving at Victoria before following his father.

"What was that all about? You walked Victoria home last night?" Skimble asked, his tone teasing.

"Well I saw her when I was heading home and it was dark so I offered to walk her home."

"She's a pretty queen Jerrie." he teased.

"Dad! Yeah she's pretty, but she has a boyfriend." he said, blushing.

"I'm only joking Jerrie. Well I'm off, see you son." he embraced him again and then headed off in the direction of the railway.

Mungojerrie watched him until he dissappeared, before turning to face the junkyard. The kittens were playing in the middle like usual, and off to the edge he could see Pounce and Tumble talking. But there was no sign of Mistoffelees or Rumpleteazer.

He walked over to his friends and they greeted hm was then treated to a play-by-play of how exactly Tumble had asked Electra out and how cute she was when she accepted. While Tumble was telling his story, Jerrie glanced over to see Victoria come out of her den, her eyes skimming the junkyard, most likely looking for Misto, and then looking a bit confused when she realized he wasn't there.

She gave up her search and ran over to join the kitten's game, while Jerrie turned his gaze back to Tumble. When he had finished, he congratulated Tumble eagerly. When Pounce and Tumble began talking again, he glanced over at the kittens and caught Victoria's gaze. She smiled at him and he smiled in return. Then, to his surprise, she left the kittens and started to walk over to him.

As she walked up, both Pounce and Tumble stopped talking to look at the white queen in surprise. "Hey Jerrie, I never did thank you for walking me home last night. So thanks."

"No problem Victoria. I wasn't about to let you walk home alone in the dark." he grinned, catching the dumbfounded looks on his friends' faces.

She then turned to speak to the other toms. "Have either of you seen Mistoffelees?"

Pouncival recovered first. "Uh sorry Victoria we haven't seen him." he answered, nudging Tumblebrutus, whose mouth was still hanging open in surprise.

"Well that's odd....oh well...see you later boys!" she smiled again and then headed back to the kittens, who were waiting for her to return, no doubt wanting to find out some new gossip.

Pounce and Tumble turned to Mungojerrie as soon as she was gone. "You know Victoria? Wow Jerrie..." Tumble said in an awed voice.

"Well, I just met her yesterday really...she was dancing and she caught me looking at her. It was dark already so I offered to walk her home. That's about it really." he said sheepishly.

"I haven't talked to Victoria since we were little kits..." Tumble said.

"The only times I've talked to her are when Jemima is talking to her while I'm around." Pounce added, also staring at Jerrie in awe. They talked for the remainder of the day, and as the sun started to set, Teazer appeared. Teazer and Jemima started to walk home and Jerrie went to follow them, until he heard someone calling his name.

"Jerrie! Jerrie wait!" It was Victoria. He paused, wondering what she had to say to him, and she ran over to where he was standing. "Uhm well I was wondering if I could talk to you....do you have a minute?" she asked innocently.

"Sure." he answered, curious now. Victoria glanced around, most likely still looking for Misto.

"Well...I know this might sound weird...but I was wondering....if you'd like to be friends with me? Cuz yeah I have a lot of queen friends but I've never really been close friends with a tom...most toms just like me for how I look, but you seem different." she finished, looking a bit nervous.

"Sure I'll be your friend Victoria. I don't have many friends myself...just my sisters, Pounce, and Tumble really..."

She looked up at him in relief and smiled. But then she saw a bit of doubt creep into his face and said, "Don't worry I'll explain to Misto that we're just friends. He'll understand."

Jerrie nodded and then looking up at the sky he answered, "I should probably get going. See you tomorrow?"

She smiled widely and nodded. As Jerrie headed home, he glanced back to see Mistoffelees finally making an appearence, running up to Victoria and grabbing her playfully from behind as she laughed and kissed him.

Jerrie turned away and ran the rest of the way home with a smile on his face.


	5. Chapter 4 Broken Promises

Chapter 4- Broken Promises

Mungojerrie had slept peacefully that night, and the first thought in his head as he woke up was his promise to see Victoria today.

"Jerrie? Are you awake? Mum made breakfast." He opened his eyes to see Jemima standing besdide his bed, and was momentarily confused. Why hadn't Teazer woken him up?

"Jemmie? Where's Teaz?" he asked.

"She left already. She said she was in a big hurry to get to the junkyard."

So she had ditched him just to go see Mistoffelees? That wasn't like her at all. Shaking his head clear of these strange thoughts, Jerrie got out of bed and went into the kitchen. Jemima had decided to wait for him while he quickly ate his breakfast, before setting off for the main junkyard together.

As they reached their destination, Jemima immediatly ran over to Pouncival and gave him a quick kiss before heading over to Etcetera and Electra. Mungojerrie saw no sign of Rumpleteazer, and neither could he spot the magician. Victoria had just emerged from her den and she seemed slightly dissappointed when she couldn't find Mistoffelees anywhere. Seeming a bit sad, Victoria began to walk over to the kittens, but changed her mind as she saw Jerrie and bounded over to him instead.

"Morning Jerrie! Have you seen Misto by any chance?" she asked.

"Good Morning Victoria. No sorry, I haven't seen him."

"I wonder he could be....." she wondered aloud, taking another look around the junkyard.. But she quickly put a smile on her face, gently grabbed Jerrie's paw, and began to lead him towards the kittens.

"Uhhhh Victoria..." he began, a bit nervously. He had never really talked to Etcetera or Electra before.

"C'mon Jerrie I wanna introduce you!" As they got to the group of kittens in the middle of the junkyard, they all looked up in surprise at Mungojerrie. Jemima smiled, but Etcy and 'Leccy ran over to greet the calico tom.

"Hiya Mungojerrie! I'm Etcetera and this is my sister, Electra. I don't think I've ever talked to you before!" The hyper queen bounded over right in front of him, seeming very excited, while her sister, Electra, followed, looking a bit more shy.

"Nice to meet you Etcetera. And hello to you too Electra." Mungojerrie adressed the two kittens and Electra smiled at him.

"C'mon Jerrie join in our game! You and Victoria can be the pollicles!" Etcy exclaimed. Jerrie turned to Victoria, who only smiled at him, before she crouched down and guestured for him to do the same. Then they both began to chase after the other three, fake snarling, and keeping their claws sheathed.

Jerrie was caught by surprise when Electra jumped on his back and hooked her arms around his neck, giggling playfully. Jerrie laughed and gently lifted the fiery queen from his shoulders and flipped her over his head while she laughed louder and landed safely in his arms. He then set her down and continued chasing Etcetera with Victoria by his side. The white queen was laughing and Jerrie found himself laughing along with her, enjoying the game and the opportunity to just have fun.

After a while, Pouncival and Tumblebrutus joined in the game, and put themselves on the kittens team, leaving Victoria and Jerrie to chase after all of them. They played like this all day, not noticing the time passing as they had fun. As the sun started to set, they all fell into a pile on the ground still laughing and catching their breath.

A few minutes later, Tugger decided to make an appearance, so all of the queens jumped up and hurried over to him, leaving Pounce, Tumble, and Jerrie to sit there and calm down a bit. "Wow that was a lot of fun. I haven't played like that in a long time." Tumble said, grinning.

"Yeah ever since Plato decided he was to mature for us, we haven't really played." Pounce added.

Jerrie only nodded. The truth was, he couldn't remember any time when he had had as much fun as he did today. He was exhausted from running around all day, but it had been worth it.

The queens then decided to come say goodbye because it was getting dark. Victoria walked over to

Mungojerrie, a bright smile on her face, and he couldn't help but smile in return. "Did you have fun today Jerrie?"

"Definitly. I haven't had that much fun in a long time."he answered.

"I just wonder where Misto is....he missed out on a fun time." her smile faded a bit.

"Yeah...well I better get going. See you tmorrow Tori." he said, and she smiled at the use of his nickname for her. Thoughts of Misto seemingly forgotten for the moment, she held her arms out for a hug. Jerrie happily accepted her hug, and was surprised as always at how soft her snow white fur was. She then let go, somwhat reluctantly, and they both headed back to their dens.

Only when he reached the edge of the junkyard, did Mungojerrie realize that he had not seen Teazer all day. Jemima soon caught up with him, and walked alongside him as the sky grew steadily darker.

"You had fun today didn't you Jerrie? I definitly did." Jemima grinned.

"Yeah I had a lot of fun Jemmie. But I wonder where Teazer's been...."

Jemima shrugged and they walked inside to find that Jenny had dinner ready for them on the table. Their mother noticed Rumpleteazer's absence, but didn't ask any questions. When they were finished eating, they headed off to bed. Jemima went straight to sleep, exhausted by the events of the day. But Jerrie couldn't sleep, so he layed there, waiting for the return of his sister.

Finally, after about an hour, Teazer showed up. "Teaz, where have you been all day?" Jerrie immediatly asked as soon as she walked in the room. The calico queen jumped in surprise at Jerrie's voice coming from the darkness.

"Uh Jerrie can we talk outside?" she asked, guesturing to the sleeping Jemima. He nodded and followed his sister out the front door and into the yard.

"Well?" he demanded.

"Soooo....yesterday I was with Misto and he introduced me to the older toms like Plato and Admetus and we hung out with them all day. Then today I watched Misto practice his magic and he put on a bit of a show for me as it got dark, which is why it took me so long to get here." she explained.

"So that's the reason I haven't seen you since the day before yesterday, all because you've been leaving early and staying out late hanging out with a tom?"

"Not just any tom, cutest magical tom."

"In case you forgot, Misto has a girlfriend!"

"Yeah well he obviously can't care about her that much if he's been hanging out with me instead of her!"

"Victoria's been upset because Misto hasn't been around like he usually is!"

"How would you know if Victoria's been upset?" she asked curiously.

"Well...I've sorta become friends with her over the last couple of days."

"Really? Great idea Jerrie! By becoming friends with her, it'll make it less likely for her to run into me and Misto!"

"What? Me being friends with Victoria has nothing to do with your little plan!" He said, a bit angry now.

"Then why are you trying to be her friend? You promised to help me get Mistoffelees!"

"I'm friends with Victoria because I want to be! And you obviously don't need my help getting Misto considering I haven't seen you in two days!"

"Fine! I don't need you help anymore! Do whatever you want Jerrie, go be friends with the snobby queen! I can make Misto fall in love with me myself!"

"Victoria is not a snobby queen! And I will be friends with her if I want! Since you obviously don't care about my feelings anymore!"

"That's fine with me! I don't need anymore broken promises! I don't need a brother who's watching my every move anyway! I don't need you anymore as long as I have Misto!"

The conversation had turned into a shouted arguement between the calico twins. After that last remark, Rumpleteazer stalked off toward the house and slammed the front door shut behind her. Jerrie could hear their mother trying to calm her down, but Teazer obviously ignored her and went into another room, slamming that door as well.

Jerrie headed into the house and saw Jenny knocking on the obviously locked door of the guest bedroom. Still angry, Jerrie stalked into their bedroom to find Jemima sitting up in her bed, looking frightened.

"Jerrie? Was that you and Teazer fighting?" she asked quietly in a scared voice.

"Yeah Jemmie...don't worry about it. Just go back to sleep ok?" he said gently, going over to Jemima's bed to tuck her in. She stared up at him, he bright brown eyes sparkling with tears as she looked at him, trying to understand. "Shhhh Jemmie....everything's gonna be ok." he whispered, crawling into her bed next to her as she rolled over, leaning against him. She was obviously shaken by hearing the arguement and he did his best to calm her down.

After a while she finally fell asleep and Jerrie gently rolled out of her bed without waking her. He then went over and slumped onto his own bed. He just didn't understand. Him and Teazer never argued, not like that. He hadn't meant to break his promise to her, but how could he help her if she was never around? He didn't know why she had all of a sudden become so bossy, ordering him around. He knew that in Teazer's eyes Tori was obviously the enemy, the one thing standing in the way of her being with Mistoffelees. But Jerrie knew Victoria had never done anything to Teazer, she didn't deserve to be hated by the calico queen.

The fight had shaken him. Their shouting had shaken the whole household, it even scared Jemima. He could still hear his mother trying to reason with Rumpleteazer through the locked door of the guest bedroom. Eventually, Jenny gave up, and he heard her walk to her own bedroom after a while. At last, he gave into exhaustion and fell asleep.


	6. Chapter 5 Abandoned

Chapter 5- Abandoned

It had been a few days since the fight between Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer. They hadn't talked to each other since then, and even if he had wanted to, he wouldn't have the chance. Teazer left every morning before he woke up, and came home every night after he was asleep. Jerrie had spent the last few days either playing with the kittens, talking to Pounce and Tumble, or just hanging out and talking with Victoria. He had told her of his fight with Teazer, leaving out the fact that the tom they had argued about was Mistoffleees.

Today seemed as if it would be the same as the last few days, except this time Victoria didn't even go over to greet her friends, she just headed straight over to Jerrie who was on his way over to Pounce and Tumble. He noticed that she looked upset so he immediatly ran over to meet her. She only leaned up against him and began to cry, as he put his arms around her small frame. Wondering what had happend, he did his best to comfort his friend.

After a while, Victoria's sobs subsided and she looked up at him, her eyes red from crying. "I'm sorry Jerrie....its just....well I'm really confused right now...about something Jemima told me..."

"What did she tell you?" he asked curiously.

"She told me that she's seen Misto with Rumpleteazer and that's why he hasn't been around lately...."

"Really? What interest would she have in Misto?" Jerrie tried to act surprised at the news, but all he could feel was dread that Teazer had been caught.

"I don't know....I didn't believe her at first, but I haven't seen Misto al all for the last two days....he supposed to be my boyfriend, why isn't he here?" she began to cry again.

"Tori....shhh...its ok..." Jerrie tried to comfort her again. He turned a bit to see Pounce and Tumble walking over, looking concerned.

"You know, Victoria's right. I haven't seen Mistoffelees around here for a few days....and he's been acting kinda weird, saying he's been hanging out with Plato and Admetus rather than us." Pouncival said thoughtfully and Tumblebrutus nodded in agreement. Jerrie listened to them, still holding Victoria who had stopped crying but didn't want to let go of the calico tom. The kittens had wandered over to join them. Etcetera suggested that all of them should go look for Mistoffelees.

Victoria finally let go of Jerrie and liked Etcetera's idea. They all set off to the outskirts of the junkyard in search of the elusive magician. They had been searching for about an hour with no sign of the tuxedo tom. But just as they were about to give up, Electra spotted a flash of blue light and they all headed toward it.

It was the same clearing where Mungojerrie had caught Victoria dancing. It seemed as if Mistoffelees was putting on a magic show, and in the middle of the clearing was Rumpleteazer, who was smiling at Misto's magical tricks. The group of Jellicles stayed hidden in the shadows, watching as Misto made the calico queen dissappear and then reappear in another part of the clearing, while she giggled and clapped. Every so often Misto would shoot blue lightning from his paws and at last, he ended his performance with his famous conjuring turn.

Rumpleteazer clapped and grinned as Misto walked over to her. And to everyone's horror, he pulled her into a hug and did not let go for a while. Teazer kept messing with his fur, ruffling it and obviously flirting with him. Upset that about half the tribe knew of Misto's betrayal and his sister's involement in it, Jerrie looked down at Victoria, whose blue eyes were once again filled with tears. Having seen enough, Victoria bolted away from the edge of the clearing, back towards the junkyard, ignoring Jerrie's concerned shouts.

When she arrived at a small stream running beside the junkyard, she ripped the silver 'M' off of her collar and cast it into the water. She watched as the sun glinted off its shining surface before it dissappeared. She then ran straight to her den and into her bedroom before giving in to her tears.

Mungojerrie had chased after Victoria but she was too far ahead for him to catch up. He slowed to a walk as the other young Jellicles caught up with him. They all walked back to the junkyard in silence, too upset by what they had seen. It wasn't dark yet, but everyone decided it was time to head home, so they said quick goodbyes before heading off to their dens.

Jerrie and Jemima walked back to their house to find Jenny was almost done with dinner. To upset to eat, Jerrie decided to skip dinner and head to his bedroom, deciding against locking the door since Jemima had to come in eventually. He just lay there in the window seat, imagining how Victoria must be feeling right now. She had just seen her boyfriend putting on a show and flirting with another queen. Not even just any queen, her new friend's sister. He imagined that she must feel abandoned, thinking Mistoffelees no longer cared about her, and confused, wondering if it was her fault that Misto was acting like this.

Jerrie was very upset with himself as well. He had helped his sister get to Mistoffelees in the first place. He was partially responsible for her pain as well. But when he agreed to help his sister, how could he have known that he would soon become friends with Victoria? That by helping her, he would be helping hurt Victoria?

It had only started as him trying to help out his sister, how had it come to this? Could it get any worse? Jerrie shifted uncomfortably, not wanting to know the answer to that last question. He stared out into the slowely darkening sky, thinking about this.

His thoughts were interupted as Jemima quietly opened the door and looked sympathecially at him. "Jerrie? Are you alright?" she asked quietly, coming over to sit on the window seat next to him, looking concerned.

He turned to look at her and said, "Jemmie....I'm sorry but I don't want to talk about what happend earlier ok?"

"Ok. But if you change your mind, I'm here." she looked seriously at him and he nodded. At that, Jemima headed over to her bed and layed down, while he turned to look out at the now starry night sky. What he had told Jemima was true, he didn't want to talk about earlier. He couldn't tell Jemima everything without feeling like he had betrayed Teazer's trust. But why should he care what Teazer thought of him? Hadn't she told him that she didn't need anyone but her precious Misto? But althought Jerrie was mad at her, he couldn't hate her. She was still his sister, and siblings fight.

As Jerrie kept thinking, his thoughts turned to Victoria again. Wasn't it Teazer's fault that Tori was so upset? Sure it was partly his fault, but most of the blame was on his sister. It had been her idea, and she was the one off flirting with Mistoffelees. His anger at his sister made it easier to put the blame on her rather than himself.

Jerrie yawned, realizing how tired he was. He got off the window seat, and crept quietly over to his bed. He layed down and that night his sleep was mercifully dreamless.


	7. Chapter 6 Just Friends?

Chapter 6- Just Friends?

Nobody saw Victoria at all the next day. She stayed in her den while everyone else did their best to try to act normal. The kittens began to play as usual, but they were a bit subdued. Pounce and Tumble were with their girlfriends, but Jerrie sat alone in the shadows, thinking about Victoria and his sister as well.

"You seem troubled." came a voice from behind him. He jumped and turned to see the mystical twin Coricopat sitting there. It was unusual to fin him without his sister by his side, like it used to be with him and Teazer.

"Oh, hi Cori. Yeah I guess you could say I'm a bit...confused." he answered.

"What is it that you are confused about?"

"Well...there's this queen that I used to be very close to, but you see she's changed somehow, not for the better.....the other day she was found flirting with another queen's tom..." Jerrie tried ot explain without giving away any names.

"You mean your sister."

"How did you-"

"Mungojerrie, everyone in the tribe knows what happend yesterday."

"Oh."

"So what about this situation is troubling you?"

"Well since my sister's been...gone, I've become friends with Victoria and yesterday she was really hurt after seeing Misto and Teazer together. I just don't know who to blame for Victoria's pain...me or my sister."

"Sometimes there is no one to blame, Jerrie. Sometimes things happen, whether unpleasant or not, and there's nothing you can do but try to live through it."

"But I've been thinking, what if I'd never agreed to help Teazer win Mistoffelees? Then Victoria wouldn't be hurt by seeing Misto and Teazer flirting. But if that were true then I'd probably never have even become friends with Tori in the first place...."

"Jerrie I want you to listen to me. It does not help to think about 'What could have been.' What's done is done and you cannot change that. You must only try to find a way to right whatever wrongs you may have done."

Jerrie looked at Coricopat and nodded. He was right, there was no point in thinking about what could have happend. "Thanks Cori, you've really helped me."

Coricopat nodded and then slowely walked away, dissappearing into the shadows. Feeling a bit better, Jerrie walked out in the light and over to Victoria's den.

He knocked on the door, and it was answered by Demeter. "Oh hello Jerrie. I'm sorry but Victoria's...not feeling well."

"Demeter, I know she's upset but that's why I need to see her. Please just tell her I'm here." he asked a bit desperatly.

Demmie smiled and let him inside, telling him to wait in the living room while she went to talk to Victoria. As he sat down on the couch to wait, Munkustrap walked into the room and looked surprised to find Mungojerrie in his living room.

"Jerrie? Why, hello! What are you doing here?"

"Hi Munkus, I'm here to see Victoria. Demeter just went up to tell her I'm here."

"Oh. Well okay then..." he started to walk away but stopped and turned to ask, "Actually Jerrie, do you mind telling me what exactly happend yesterday? I know the rest of the tribe knows, but I've been off to Vicorage Wall having a chat with Deuteronomy and I haven't heard."

"Sure. Well Victoria was worried yesterday when Misto didn't show up again so a bunch of us deicded to go looking for him. And we found him, in the outskirts with..." he hesitated.

"With who?"

"With..my sister. He was putting on a show for her. When the show was done, they were talking, or more like flirting actually. After that Tori ran and we all tried to chase after her, but she got to the junkyard and ran to her den before any of us could catch up." Jerrie finished.

"Ah...I figured all this had something to do with a tom...come to think of it, when I went up to check on her earlier, I noticed she wasn't wearing that silver charm Mistoffelees gave her." he said thoughtfully.

This was news to Jerrie. Victoria had taken the charm off? Did that mean that she wanted nothing more to do with the magician? His thoughts were interrupted by Demeter coming back into the room.

"Jerrie, Victoria says she'll talk to you. Just go straight up the stairs and her room is the first door on your left." she told him with a smile. He nodded and headed up the stairs, happy that Tori had decided to talk to him.

He knocked quietly on her door and she opened it a bit to see him standing there. "Jerrie, come in." she said standing aside and opening the door wider to let him in. Victoria's room was very simple, yet beautiful at the same time. Her walls were painted light blue, she had a white shaggy carpet, and her bed had light pink sheets. There was a white and silver vanity and across the room was a window overlooking the junkyard, which currently was covered by pink curtains.

As Jerrie took all of this in, Victoria sat down on her bed while leaving room for him to sit next to her. He noticed her eyes were rimmed red from crying and she was not wearing her pink collar, which sat on a nightstand next to her bed. He came over and sat down next to her, looking concerned.

"Jerrie...I'm glad you came over. I needed to be with a friend." she said with a weak smile, and he smiled in return.

"Tori....why aren't you wearing your collar?" he asked curiously. He knew Misto was the one who had given her that collar.

"I don't want to wear anything that reminds me of that tom. That's why I threw that charm he gave me into the river." she answered, a bit of anger creeping into her voice.

Jerrie couldn't help but notice that she would not even mention Misto's name. "You're really upset aren't you?" he asked quietly.

"How could I not be? He said he loved me, that he would stay with me forever, and now he's off flirting and putting on performances for another queen." She looked on the verge of crying again, so Jerrie held out his arms, and she fell into them, not wanting to let go.

"But I know you'll always be there for me, Jerrie, whenever I need a friend, like now."

"I'll aways be here for you Tori." he whispered back ,still holding her. She sighed and held onto his arm tighter.

"Victoria?" Demter walked in the room and smiled at what she saw. Victoria suddenly let go of Jerrie, a bit embarassed.

"Victoria I just wanted to tell you that dinner's ready, and Jerrie you should probably be heading home, its getting dark."

Mungojerrie nodded, got up off the bed and began to walk toward the door. Victoria followed him and they walked downstairs together. Demeter and Munkustrap were standing in the kitchen, and as Jerrie started to walk to the door to leave, Victoria smiled up at him before giving him another hug and whispering, "Thank you Jerrie."

"Your welcome." he whispered back. As they pulled away he smiled and she giggled when he stuck out his tounge and gave her a lopsided grin.

"Bye Tori."

"Bye Jerrie, see you tomorrow!"

Jerrie headed home, while Victoria walked into the kitchen to find Munkustrap grinning at her. "Victoria, in my opinion, he seems better for you than Mistoffelees anyway."

"Dad! It's not like that with me and Jerrie! We're just friends." she answered, though for some reason, she couldn't resist a smile.

"Very, _very _good friends." Demeter added, smiling as well.

The next day, Victoria seemed glad to be back in the junkyard. She, Jerrie, Pounce, Tumble, and the kittens were once again playing Jellicles vs. Pollicles. But after a while, Tugger showed up and all the kittens ran over to him, while Pounce and Tumble tried to copy his moves, hoping to impress the queens. Jerrie expected Tori to join them and was surprised when she didn't. Ignoring Tugger, she turned to talk to Jerrie instead.

"Hey do you wanna go somewhere else? We could hang out in the outskirts." she suggested. He nodded and gave her his lopsided grin, which always made her laugh. Sure enough she giggled and then headed out of the main junkyard, far away from the clearing where they knew Mistoffelees and Rumpleteazer would be.

They arrived at a random part of the junkyard, as Victoria layed on her back, looking up the clouds. Jerrie layed next to her and as he did, she scooted closer to him so that their arms were touching. Jerrie was once again amazed at the softness of her fur and couldn't hold back a grin.

"Aren't the clouds beautiful Jerrie? Look that one looks like a kit!" she point at a puffy white cloud.

"Yeah they are beautiful." he sighed. For a while they lay there, pointing out oddly shaped clouds. Soon they got bored with it and both got up off the ground, shaking dirt out of their fur.

"Let's practice some dances for the ball." Victoria suggested. Thinking it was a wonderful idea, Jerrie agreed. He watched as she began to do her solo dance she had done at the ball last year, and was mesmerized by her grace and beauty. When she was finished, she jumped towards Jerrie and he caught her as she did a split above his shoulder. He twirled her around and flipped her over his shoulder, before carefully setting her down on the ground, where she once again landed in a split before he helped her back up.

"Here Tori, let me teach you the double cartwheel." Jerrie said. He explained what she needed to do and she nodded. On the first try, Jerrie fell, having tripped over something, and he caught Tori as she fell on top of him, laughing. They tried a few more times until they finally got the hand of it, having done seven turns before Jerrie stopped and set her down.

"I did it Jerrie! We did it!" she said, quite excited.

"Yeah, great job! It took me a lot longer to learn that. You're a real natural when it comes to dancing." he complimented her.

She smiled, "Thanks."

He glanced up at the sky and realized that the sun was setting, Time seemed to fly by whenever he was with Tori. "Its getting dark, we should probably head back."

She glanced up at the sky as well and then looked back at him. As she looked at him, he noticed how pretty her blue eyes were, how her white fur seemed to gleam in the sunset. Not exactly sure where these realizations had come from, he pushed them to the back of his mind, before hugging her and then walking back to the main junkyard side by side.

When they arrived, they could no longer see the sun. He walked her to her den and as she opened the door, Demeter called out, "Thanks for walking her home Jerrie!"

He grinned and ran off to his house. Jerrie walked inside to find Jemima and Jenny eating dinner. He joined them, quickly finishing his own plate, before heading off to bed. Jemima walked in after him and he smiled at her. She walked over to her bed and said, "Good night Jerrie."

"Night, Jemmie." he answered as he crawled into his own bed. As he lay there waiting for sleep to come, Jerrie remembered the thoughts he had had when he looked at Tori as the sun was setting. As he tried to make sense of why he had so clearly noticed these things, he could make neither head nor tail of it.

He had certainly become really good friends with the pretty white queen, but was that all they were? Just friends? He debated this thought until he fell asleep, dreaming once again of Victoria.


	8. Chapter 7 Emotions Run High

Chapter 7- Emotions Run High

Jerrie woke in the middle of the night, and however hard he tried, he couldn't get back to sleep. Eventually he gave up and layed there, thinking of the things that had been running through his head earlier that night. He just couldn't believe it. He had somehow fallen in love with Victoria. No matter how hard he tried to deny it, he knew it was true. But after their conversation the day before he knew Tori did not feel the same way about him. To her he was just a very good friend and he would never be any more than that.

He remembered when she had first come up to him and asked to if they could be friends. She had told him that the reason she didn't have many close tom friends was because they usually only liked her for her looks. But he knew he was different than those other toms. He cared for Victoria, not just for the way she looked on the outside. But now he understood why all of the toms were head over heels for her. It wasn't hard to be fond of the pure white queen.

Now he had finally experienced love. Or more likely he loved someone but they did not love him in the same way in return. Ever since he had seen Mistoffelees and Victoria in the clearing that night, he had waited for this moment. Now he wished it hadn't happend because there was no possibility of it having any effect on Tori, but only cause him pain.

Jerrie had started to debate whether or not he should tell Tori of his feelings, when his thoughts were interrupted by the bedroom door opening and a cat slinking quietly into the room, over to the empty bed. He had not actually seen Teazer at all since their fight. She was never around when he was awake. Not wanting to talk to her, he feigned sleep until he was sure she was safely asleep. He opened his eyes again and stared toward the window across the room. Next to the window, moonlight fell on Jemima's sleeping figure.

An idea came to his mind. Jemima had offered to help him many times before, maybe he would tell her of his feelings for Victoria and ask her opinion on what he should do. He liked the idea, but for some reason he didn't think it was right to tell anyone but Tori herself. He debated this for a long while and without noticing, he drifted off to sleep.

When he opened his eyes again he half hoped that this entire plan of his sister's had never happend, that he had never gotten to know Victoria, and that it had all been a very imaginitive dream. But as he got up and saw no sign of Rumpleteazer, all his feeble hopes vanished and he still hadn't decided whether or not to tell Victoria.

He headed off the the kitchen and saw no one. Curious, he walked into the living room to find his mother sitting on the couch talking to Jellylorum.

"Oh hi Jerrie. Its about time you woke up. Jemima went to the junkyard already. I was just sitting here talking to Jelly." his mother said as he stepped into the room.

"Thanks mum. I'll be back around dark."

She nodded and he headed out the door, deliberatly taking his time walking the the junkyard. Not wanting to accidently run into Victoria before he had come to a decision, he stayed in the outskirts, thinking. As he wandered around trying to make up his mind, he ran across the rugged tom Plato, sitting in shadows, appearing to be talking to someone. As Jerrie stepped closer, a voice came out of the shadows next to the red and white tom.

"Plato, this conversation is no longer private. We have a visitor."

Plato looked up at Jerrie in surprise and blushed a little bit. He stepped toward the calico tom and was followed by the mystical queen, Tantomile. Quite surprised to see these two together, Jerrie stopped in his tracks.

"Mungojerrie? What are you doing out here?" Plato asked in surprise.

"Um hi Plato. I'm sorry, I was just wandering around...I'll just go...." He began to turn away.

"Wait. I sense something is troubling you. Am I right Jerrie?" Tantomile asked.

He turned back, this time to face Tantomile. "Well... yeah I'm a bit confused right now but I'm sure I'll be able to figure it out...."

"Maybe I can help." Tantomile insisted.

Jerrie looked at her hopefully. Her brother had been able to help him before, maybe she could as well.

"Well...I've just recently realized that I really, really like this queen but I don't know if I should tell her. You see, she only thinks of me as a good friend." He answered, not wanting to give away any names, especially to Plato.

Unfortunatly Plato asked, "Which queen?"

Reluctantly he answered, "Victoria."

"Ah Victoria, every tom's dream. You know she was once a queen I fancied, but that was before I met Tanti." he said, turning to grin at Tantomile, who blushed.

"You did the mating dance with Victoria at the last ball didn't you?" Jerrie suddenly remembered.

"Yes, I did. But after I saw the way her and Mistoffelees looked at each other, I knew I had no chance. They were destined to be together. Or at least that's what I thought then." Plato answered.

"I'm sure you've heard all about Mistoffelees and Rumpleteazer." Tantomile said.

Jerrie nodded. "Yeah I thought the same thing as Plato. It seemed as if Misto and Tori were destined to be together. But he has suddenly shown an interest in my sister."

"Yeah....but Jerrie have you heard the new rumor?" Plato asked hesitantly.

"What new rumor?"

"Well the word going around is that Victoria is done with Mistoffelees for good. She seems to have found a new tom."

"Who?" he asked, confused.

"You Jerrie. You were the only one Victoria would talk to the day after Mistoffelee's betrayal. The kittens noticed that the two of you dissappeared when they were fawning over the Rum Tum Tugger. You spend an awful lot of time with Victoria, Jerrie." Tantomile explained.

He was shocked. So the tribe thought that him and Victoia were together? Looking back on all the times he and Victoria had spent together, he realized that that's exactly what it must look like. He had a sudden vision of him and Victoria laying on the ground, looking up at the stars and then turning to stare into each other's eyes.....

The image dissapeared when he remembered the problem he had realized to begin with. How could that happen if Tori only thought of him as a friend?

"Plato...can I tell you something? And can you promise not to tell anyone? Same goes for you Tantomile." he asked.

Tantomile nodded and Plato said, "Sure Jerrie. What is it?"

"The truth is...I've fallen in love with Victoria. But she doesn't like me any more than that of a friend." he told them.

Neither if them looked surprised. "Jerrie believe me, I know how it feels. I was in love with Victoria once. Its not hard to fall for her, I know that. Especially when it feels like you have no chance, whatever the reasons." Plato said seriously.

Tantomile looked very seriously at Jerrie. "Are you sure she only likes you as that of a friend?" When he nodded, she continued, "Well either way, I think you shoudl tell her your true feelings Mungojerrie. She's your friend, you should be able to tell her anything."

She was right. He should be able to tell Victoria anything. Tantomile had finally made up his mind for him.

"You're right Tanti. Thank you so much for your help, you too Plato. I'm going to tell Tori the truth." he announced.

"Good luck Jerrie." Plato said, patting him on the back. Jerrie nodded to the older tom and then walked toward the junkyard with a determined look on his face.

He finally arrived to find Jemima with Pouncival, Electra with Tumble, and had a slight surprise seeing Etcetera and Admetus together as well. He smiled, glad Etcy had found someone other than Tugger. Then remembering why he had come in the first place, he saw Victoria laying on the car sunning herself, her eyes closed. He stood there for a moment, amazed as always by her beauty, and then headed over to her.

He crawled up onto the car without making a sound, then put his face right in front of hers and whispered, "Tori."

She jumped and her eyes flew open in surprise, while he laughed. Calming down, she fake pouted, pawing at Jerrie, saying it wasn't funny. He only had to give her one of his lopsided grins to make her laugh.

"Okay Jerrie, now that you've successfully scared me out of my wits, what do you want?" she said with a smile.

"I was wondering if we could go hang out in the outskirts." he asked with a grin of his own.

"Sure. That sounds like fun." she giggled and jumped on Jerrie's back laughing, "If you carry me!"

He laughed and agreed, carrying her on his back out of the main junkyard and toward the outskirts. He stopped at a random spot in the shade of a huge pile of junk and sat down as Tori jumped off his back. He was panting a little bit from sprinting with her on his back and had to catch his breath. He then turned to smile at Victoria who was sitting beside him, looking up at the sky.

She turned and smiled at him before grabbing his paw and dragging him up to the top of the junkpile they had been under. The sun was setting and made the view up here all the more amazing. They could see the entire junkyard and the city beyond it as well. Jerrie layed on his stomach and watched the horizon, Victoria doing the same. They lay there and watched as the sun slowely dissappeared behind the city buildings and twilight gathered as the sky slowely got darker.

He knew he should probably be heading home but he was too content to just lay here with Tori. She showed no signs of leaving either so they stayed there long after the sun had left the sky. Victoria turned to him finally, breaking the silence. "That sunset was beautiful wasn't it Jerrie?"

"Yes it was." He turned and looked directly into her bright blue eyes. The time seemed right.

"Tori...I need to tell you something."

She pricked her ears up and looked curiously at him.

"Tori.... I love you."

"What?" she was staring at him in shock. This was not the reaction he had been hoping for. He desperately waited for her to say something.

"Jerrie.....oh no...." her eyes were filling with tears.

"Tori....what is it?" he said, concerned.

"Why does this always happen to me? The toms I try to be friends with can't see past the way I look!" she stood up and he did the same.

"Tori! I care about you! Not just the way you look! Can't you understand that?"

"Jerrie....you know I love you...." his face perked up but she continued, "But....not like that. I'm sorry."

Jerrie's face fell as she said this. This is what he had feared would happen. "Well who do you love? Mistoffelees?" he asked, not able to control his anger.

"To tell you the truth Jerrie...I know Misto's been a real jerk lately, and I thought I was over him....but I was wrong. I still love him."

His eyes filled with angry tears. "How can you still love him after all he's done to you? You've been telling me how horrible Misto's been ever since we found him and Teazer in the clearing!"

"Jerrie I know....but he hasn't always been a jerk. He used to be sweet.....and he loved me."

"He loved you then! He obviously doesn't anymore or he wouldn't be off with my sister all the time!"

"He's not perfect! Nobody is! Everyone makes mistakes! Besides he was only flirting, its not like he kissed her or anything."

"How do you know he hasn't? You never see him anymore, no one does, except for Teazer!"

"How can you say that?" Victoria looked hurt. Jerrie was trying to calm himself down but it was difficult when he knew how stupid Victoria was being, thinking about going after that jerk again.

"None of this would have even happend if it wasn't for your sister!" she yelled angrily.

He knew she was right but he didn't want to give her the satisfaction of knowing how right she was. "So you blame all of this on her? What about Misto? He's involved as well, it was his decision!"

"Misto made a mistake! I know that! But he's still the same Misto! _My_ Misto!"

Victoria was furious and so was Jerrie. But hearing her say 'my misto' had been too much for him. He stormed away, climbing down the pile and ran home, leaving Victoria alone in the dark. Tears streaked down his face as he opened the door and then ran up to his room, throwing himself onto his bed and finally let the sobs take over.

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**Alright I don't believe I've done an author's note on this story yet but I'm going to start now. This is the last chapter I currently have written out and now typed. I do have a general idea on how I want the story to end, but not everything in between. So reviews would be greatly appreciated as well as any ideas or suggestions. =]**


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